B&H has dropped the price on the EOS 5D Mark II and the EOS 5D Mark III.

It's a drop of $260 - not earthshattering for a nearly $3500 item, and the official reduction just follows the street prices. But it means the 5d3 is looking value, no doubt due to the Nikon competition and maybe the upcoming 6d. And since Canon probably won't fix the af indicator issue that's another reason.

If this continues the 5d3 might end up where many people expected it to be from the start - below the high-mp d800.

And these don't even account for the occasional deals that show up on ebay and the like.

I take issue with the above plot. The 5D MkIII with 24-105 is shown to cost $5000 at launch in March 2012 - actually, it was priced at about $4300 ($US). On this plot, it doesn't drop to that level until July 2012. So what gives?

The 5D Mark II was an easy decision when it came out. It was excellent value

The 5D Mark III faces stiff competition for camera dollars, and not just from the Nikon D800, but the D600, the Sony's, even the panasonic GH3 (for videographers).

The decision to buy the 5D III is difficult, and I have been on the fence for months. Not sure if I will ever buy one now. I still think it's a great camera, but the other options in this round may offer better value.

Canon and retailers can milk the first adopters only to a certain point. Initial pricing was based on the assumption that Canon is the king of the hill in its own la-la land. Reality kicks in as sales start to drop too much , so here we are with price drops after just a few months from the release date. More great deals to come. i think the price will settle to a more realistic level around spring next year.

I'm not saying this is a bad camera, I'm just saying unrealistic pricing can not be maintained in a free market for a very long time.